A House Divided Cannot Stand
by What'dIMiss
Summary: A house of five will become six and six will become less than five. Secrets will be kept, lies will be told, and someone may die or be arrested. Maybe. Rated T for various reasons. AU with Mike's personalities.
1. Prologue

**A/N: New fic!**

 **Apologies about my other fics not being updated recently but I had this idea and started writing it and now I'm posting it. Woops.**

 **This is the prologue, I'll likely have the first real chapter up later.**

 **Enjoy the overly descriptive paragraphs! :)**

Afternoon on a nice sunny day in late summer.

A normal suburban neighborhood in a normal town.

A house. Not particularly extravagant or wondrously large, but it suited its inhabitants.

A young woman stood on the porch. She was lean and athletic but at the same time short, with pale skin, bright blue eyes and black normally wavy hair tied up in a bun with a few rebellious strands hanging out. She wore red lipstick and mascara on her lips and lashes respectively. Her outfit consisted of a red t-shirt with a familiar to most symbol on the front, athletic blue shorts and sneakers.

A young man who appeared a bit older than the woman ran and pushed past her into the house, causing her to fall down in the process. His long, dark hair was slicked back by gel or maybe sweat and he was shirtless, displaying abs and sculpted biceps. The young woman yelled at him in a foreign language at which he just laughed before vanishing into the house.

A man who looked even older, an adult, yelled at the young man to stop running. This man had sunburnt-tan skin, sparkling green eyes and literally dirty blonde hair with a beaten fedora atop it that once upon a time might've been white, but now was a few shades of brown. He stood in the living room practicing with a lasso and roped the young man around his torso. The young man protested and the older man just laughed.

A very old man sat there in a recliner and scolded the two younger ones for their shenanigans. One of his eyes was squinted shut, his back hunched and his hair was mostly grey but for a few black spots of young hair. He wore a frayed tweed jacket over a blue sweater and slacks with brown loafers on his feet.

A man about the same age as the previously mentioned young man mentioned was in his room, listening to music through large black headphones. He also read a heavy book titled 'Ways to Die, Ways to Lie About It.' He had the look of an insomniac with rings underlining his dark eyes and wore a purple hoodie with the hood up. Notably one of his eyes was covered by his long black hair. At some point maybe his skin had been tan, but now it looked washed out and devoid of sun exposure.

This was the norm in this house. The five lived in tolerant peace with one another.

They didn't ever expect a single person to tear them apart.

 **So that's the prologue. Please review and see you later! :)**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: okay, first chapter. Here it is.**

 **Enjoy!**

It was the young woman, sixteen year old Svetlana, that first noticed the boy struggling towards the house. Tilting her head, she stepped away from the porch and looked him over from afar. "Are you the feeling good?" she called out, her voice accented with the scent of Russia.

The boy, who appeared fifteen or sixteen, her age, limped forward once. "...h-help..." he squeaked out in a begging voice before he collapsed in front of her.

Svetlana jumped once he fell. "Mani! Vito!" She sprinted into the house and within it the living room.

"What is it, Sheila?" Manitoba, the one with the fedora, asked upon hearing the distress in her voice.

"A boy...he has collapsed onto the grass," Svetlana explained. "Come, see!"

"Aight, yo, lemme outta this rope," Vito said to Mani, struggling to get free. "I don't want no scratches on me for the ladies."

Mani conceded and unroped Vito. The three walked out again to find the boy bleeding and unconscious in an awkward position. Upon seeing him Mani knelt down to examine his wounds. Vito reeled back and stepped away. Svetlana just watched Mani.

"Hm...this kid's been beat up real bad," Mani declared after his examination. "Let's get him into the house."

He tried picking him up, but it felt odd and he retreated from the attempt. "Um...Vito, could you get the little dingo of darkness from his room?"

"Ey, I got you," Vito replied with a thumbs up. He ran into the house, up the stairs to the room of the boy in question, pulled his headphones off and ran out again. "Come get im back, yo!" he yelled as he started exiting the house.

The boy who's headphones had just been nabbed shut his book abruptly, set it aside, stood up to place his hands in his hoodie pocket. "I will murder you, Vito..." he muttered, his voice surprisingly deep.

He eventually made it outside where he spotted the others and the body of the boy on the ground. Raising his visible eyebrow while maintaining a bored expression, he looked at the others. "If one of you did this, I have gained a speck of respect for you."

"Come on, dingo, just pick him up." Mani rolled his eyes.

"Must I do all the work around here?" The boy groaned and took off his sweatshirt, tossing it onto Vito to his muffled protest. The boy was wearing a black alternative band t-shirt with the sleeves torn off and he cracked his knuckles before hoisting up the unconscious body. "You're all muscular wimps. He's not even bleeding that much."

"Ey, not all of us like blood on our hands, yo," Vito replied with a shrug, balling up the sweatshirt.

They all headed into the house and the boy set the body on the couch after Svetlana had covered it with a sheet so any more blood that came out wouldn't stain the cushions.

The boy looked him over closely now. The kid's skin was flushed of color and his chest rose and fell slowly. His wounds sent a memory into the boy's mind that he pushed back like always. "Whoever did this is a criminal. I'm going to get some stuff from the bathroom. Don't move," the boy said to the others before walking off.

Svetlana got a closer look at the limp boy as well. "This is terribly bad! Svetlana is afraid he will die..." she wiped her eye. Sure she didn't know who this guy was, but still she felt bad for him.

Manitoba put a comforting arm around her. "Hey, it's gonna be alright, Sheila. Mal knows about this stuff, he'll take care of it." Quite honestly Manitoba was a bit confused as to why Mal had not hesitated to help the kid, but then remembered and his confusion disappeared.

Svetlana sniffled and nodded. "Okay Mani, Svetlana believes you."

Mal came back with a few things. He set them on the floor by the couch and knelt down to the level of the kid. The first thing he did was cut off his shirt to reveal more cuts and bruises as well as decent muscles. He wiped off the blood from the wounds and bandaged them properly, followed up by checking the kid's pulse. "He's still alive, for now...just asleep." He stood up and wiped some stray blood off his hands with a towel he'd brought. "Leave him be for now and someone tell Chester we've got a visitor."

 **Please review, see you next time :)**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: next chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

Chester had fallen asleep in his recliner.

Vito clapped three times right in front of Chester. "Yo! Wake up!"

Chester's good eye shot awake and he glared up at the younger man. "What'd you startle me up for? I ought to whip ya for this!"

"We got company, old man," Vito replied, pointing to the couch.

Chester's eye darted to there and it widened. He stood up creakily from his seat and went to check out the kid. A certain recognition hit him and he stepped back. "Kids...always causing trouble," he muttered. He looked at the younger people in the room. "Where did you whippersnappers all find this?"

"He was collapsed on the grass lawn in front of Svetlana," she explained.

Chester closed his eye and thought for a moment. "When that kid wakes up he better have a damn good story! Now all of you, give him some space. And where's Mal?"

Mal was still in the room, leaning against the wall nearby out of Chester's sight. "In the shadows like always, grandpa."

"Get over her so I can see you!" Chester frowned.

Mal complied, walking away from his spot and moving to stand and look down at Chester. He had multiple inches on the old man. He tried to look indifferent but Chester saw right through him. " Meet me in my room. I want to speak of something with you without these other fools listenin'," Chester told him.

Mal nodded once in understanding.

The other three were a bit confused by the sudden change in Chester's tone. He looked at them. "Don't just stand there looking like idiots! Let the kid rest!" He left the room.

Svetlana left and changed clothes in her room before heading to the basement to practice her gymnastics. There was a mat set up down there and there was plenty room for her. A set of weights belonging to Vito was shoved to the side. School would be starting up again real soon and she wouldn't have so much time to practice at home.

Promptly she warmed up and as she began practicing Vito ran down the stairs and started to watch. "Vito! Why do you watch Svetlana?" she asked upon seeing him.

"I dunno, you're good at it or whatever," Vito excused with a shrug.

"Your time to work out is not until the later time, please let me practice without you here to distract me!" Svetlana pointed to the staircase.

"Aw, come on, I won't get in the way..."

As those two continued arguing downstairs, Mal has gone up stairs again and into one of the bedrooms, Chester's, where the old man was waiting for him. "Sit," Chester ordered, pointing to the bed.

Mal crossed the room, keeping his eye on Chester, and sat on the edge of the mattress. He rested his hands in his hoody pocket; he'd taken it back from Vito before they'd split ways.

Chester took a seat next to him. There was a tense silence between them before Mal broke it. "Why?" he muttered, confusion and something like grief in his voice.

Chester sighed. "The past don't want to stay where it damn belongs."

Mal looked at his feet. Shadows crossed his face where they never did and his hair dangled in front of his face instead of being plastered against it, showing his previously covered eye.

Chester placed an arm around his shoulders.

Mal waited a moment with his eyes closed before opening them, shrugging off the arm and standing up. His left eye disappeared again. "It doesn't matter...he'll be gone soon enough," he said darkly.

"Don't go making any irrational decisions..." Chester warned.

"I did that once. Look where it got us."

"Well I'm darn glad you made _that_ decision. But don't go make the one I think you might make," Chester explained.

"Of course...that would be madness," Mal replied before he left the room.

Before he could get to his bedroom and drown his thoughts out with music, Manitoba called through the house, "The kid's awake!"

 **Review, til next time :)**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: next chapter**.

 **Thanks to sketchmelgar for the review :)**

 **Enjoy!**

The members of the house gathered around the couch as they saw the kid struggling to sit up. Mal again took his spot on the wall, looking away.

The kid spotted them all and confusion struck him. "Where am I?" he asked, looking around and sounding desperate.

"Heaven," Mal muttered.

"You're in our house, mate. You passed out on the lawn," Manitoba explained, on his knees looking at the kid.

"Wh-who are you? I need to get home, my parents will kill me if I don't get home on time...how long was I out?" he asked.

"An hour? Yeah, I think that's right." Manitoba nodded.

"Ey, it wasn't that long, yo," Vito figured.

"Who did all this damage to you?" Mal asked the kid quietly from his spot.

The kid caught that and looked over at Mal. "What do you mean? I- I just tripped a few times..." he lied.

"Yeah, you tripped. You fell unconscious while bleeding because you _tripped_. I call B.S. You're lying," Mal accused.

"Wha-I'm not-I wasn't- dangit..." the kid sighed.

"What's your name?" Mal asked interrogatively.

"M-Mike..." he introduced himself. He seemed a bit scared of Mal for no clear reason. Maybe it was the deep voice.

That name struck a chord with Mal and he backed off with a simple, silent nod.

"Aight, yo, you's got some explaining to do, _Mike_..." Vito said, cracking his knuckles.

Mike's eyes widened more, as the tone of that remark scared him.

"Take it down a couple notches, mate..." Manitoba suggested.

"Aight, whateva...I gotta prepare for the club soon anyways." Vito left the room.

Meanwhile, the others introduced themselves. Mal refused by way of saying nothing, so Manitoba took the liberty of introducing him. "That's the resident dark cloud over by the wall. Mal."

Mike looked at Mal again. Mal put up his hood and left the room silently.

 **Please review, feedback is always welcome. See ya next time! :)**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: New chapter!**

 **Thank you sketchmelgar for reviewing the last chapter. :)**

 **Enjoy!**

A few hours later...

A variety of smells wafted from the kitchen to throughout the house.

"Vito, wash your hands with the soap and water if you want to help Svetlana set up the dinner and serve the things she made!"

"Aight, yo, don't get all twisted up." Vito chuckled.

"It is not the time for the gymnastics jokes!" Svetlana pushed him out of the kitchen with a frown. She wore a red apron over a blue t-shirt and black leggings.

Mal slunk into the kitchen and took one of the items needed for the meal, a small loaf of bread. He then snuck back out undetected, smirking.

Svetlana set the different plates down on the table and walked out into the living room. "Boys! It's the time now for eating dinner!" she called.

Manitoba jumped down the stairs three at a time and landed on the floor. "Kid's stuck up in the spare room. You got something for him?"

"Svetlana will see what is left...she didn't think to ask Mike if he needed something special like all of you do." She bit her lip a little. She'd showered earlier so she no longer had makeup on.

"Hey, it's alright, Svet. It's enough cooking different for five people. He'll survive what he gets, probably."

Svetlana nodded, still feeling a bit guilty.

0-0-0

Mal tossed the bread at Mike, who lay on the bed in the spare room.

Mike rubbed his head when he failed to catch it due to his current condition. The bread bounced a big and landed by his knees. "Ow...what was _that_ for?"

"You're welcome. I'm betting that's more food than you've seen in a while. Be grateful." Mal turned to leave.

"Wait, Mal-"

"What?" Mal turned again to look down at Mike, crossing his arms.

"...thanks for bringing me this...you're right, I haven't eaten much in a while."

"I can tell. You look like an injured twig." Mal left the room after that comment.

 **Please review. Til next time, see ya later :)**


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: **new chapter!**

 **Forgot to put this at the beginning. Quick disclaimer: don't own these charscters, never will.**

 **Okay, on to the chapter!**

"There's too much sauce on mine!"

Svetlana spooned off some of the sauce and Chester gave her a pat on the head. "Not bad."

"Ey, this is pretty good, yo!" Vito said as he scarfed down his food.

"Svetlana is glad Mani was kind to make your meal for you, Vito..."

"No problem Sheila. You woulda tarnished it anyway."

"That is true, Svetlana cannot stand to be with meat." She sat at her place at the table and ate her own, vegetarian food.

"You talking double here?" Vito asked, stifling a laugh.

Svetlana slapped Vito's fork out of his hand. "Shut your mouth, Vito!"

"Ey yo, I was just kidding! Lighten up! What's with ya lately, anyway? You always gettin made at me over nothing," Vito asked her as he reached over to get his fork.

"It is nothing of your concerns! I have none of the time for this!" Svetlana stood up and left the room with her plate in hand. She wasn't hungry anymore.

She handed it off to Mal when their paths crossed, who confusedly brought it with him to the dinner table. "What did you guys say repeatedly _this_ time to upset her?" he asked the remaining group.

"Bah, back in my day we all lived in one room and couldn't run off to escape our familial issues!" Chester replied unhelpfully as he shook his fist.

Mal set the plate down and then left to go to the basement.

He found the apron on the floor in the doorway and heard feet hitting the mat. He picked up the apron and tossed it upstairs.

"Mal, leave Svetlana by herself." She started to leave.

"Svetlana, stop."

Svetlana stopped and frowned at him. "What does she need to stop?" she crossed her arms as she asked.

"This behavior. We don't need two moody sulks in this house. One is plenty." Mal crossed his own arms. "What's bothering you so much?"

"...not business of yours to know, Mal," Svetlana replied, hesitating with her answer and looking vulnerable as she tried to maintain eye contact while looking up at him.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I think you know. Don't play dumb."

"...I don't wish to speak of that," Svetlana replied in a small voice.

"Ah, speaking in the first person now?"

"Stop talking...anyway, the person has a person already."

"Ooh, drama... _exciting_." Mal rolled his eyes. "It's the red one, isn't it?"

Svetlana froze up a bit. She blushed. "Maybe..."

"Figured. You don't have to hide it, given the number of guys in this house who lean the same way."

"But I do not figure how to say it..." Svetlana admitted.

"They might already know."

 **Please review, and see ya next time! :)**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: this took forever :PPP**

 **but its up now. Yay.**

 **Please enjoy :)**

After eating the bread Mal had given him, Mike crept down the stairs towards the door, wincing every other step. He didn't want to burden this nice...family? Though none of them looked alike they had that sort of dynamic but he wouldn't make any assumptions...any longer. He was worried about what might happen to him if he stayed and then went back where he'd come from tomorrow.

He felt something wrap around his torso and pull him to a stop. "Now where do ya think you're going?" Manitoba asked, holding tight to his lasso.

Mike sighed in defeat.

Manitoba unroped him and put a hand on his own hip.

"I was going," Mike said.

"Going where?"

"Back to my house..."

"And why can't you stay a time longer, mate? Ya just got here."

"I can't be out overnight, I-I have to go back."

"...what'll they do if you don't?" Chester had entered the room.

Mike looked down at him and swallowed dryly. "...I-I can't tell you that..." he replied, shivering.

Chester sighed to himself. "Kids these days..." he muttered before gaining volume in his voice. "You're stayin here for now, it's not that late."

Mike shook his head. "Th-they'll come find me..." he tried to explain quietly, trailing off. "...they always find me..." He sniffled.

"What is the thing going on in here?" Svetlana asked as she entered the room.

"Mike here thinks it's time to make an exit," Manitoba explained.

"What?" Svetlana looked at Mike.

Mike was looking at the floor.

"Maybe they should barricade the door if they don't want you going out," Mal said bitterly. He was back at the wall, having followed Svetlana upstairs again. "If they didn't there's no reason you can't stay the night."

Mike looked at Mal, still confused by him.

"You're injured, mate, you gotta stay til you're better," Manitoba said.

Mike had to think about it. "...fine...but I'm leaving when I wake up in the morning."

"Yeah yeah," Chester replied, rolling his good eye. "Get comfortable." He left the room to go finish dinner, as did Mani. Svetlana left to go to her bedroom. That left just Mal and Mike in the living room.

Mike was about to say something but then Mal walked over and opened the door. "Do you really want to go back out there?" he asked, his voice low.

Mike shook his head. "N-no..." he replied shakily. Mal still scared him. He wasn't sure why.

Mal nodded slowly and closed the exit again. He then pushed past Mike and went to his bedroom, leaving him to stand alone in a suddenly quiet house


End file.
